The Way It Should Be
by Love2KatieCassidy
Summary: An alternate, one shot ending to the series finale. BAMON.


**The Way It Should Be**

BAMON. A one shot alternate ending to the shit-tastic finale. Written from a prompt on Tumblr.

* * *

 _Dear Damon,_

 _I'm in Amsterdam having the time of my life. Hope you and Elena are well. Wishing you all of the best._

 _Yours,_  
 _"Witchy"_

All it took was one glance at that postcard to convince Damon to finally do what he'd been dreaming and fantasizing about for so long… _He was going after Bonnie._

He took crow form and flew right to Amsterdam. (And why not? It was cheaper than flying commercial.) Once he arrived in Europe, he morphed back into his human state (discreetly behind a tree) and set about looking for Bonnie. It shouldn't be too hard to find her. He figured that she was at some museum.

This had been a long time coming. He'd spent four miserable months with Elena. They hadn't ended on bad terms though. In fact, they were both _relieved_ when it was over. They had changed so much in the time they were apart and deep down, they both realized that they were never meant to be together in the first place. They'd just been too stubborn and stupid to realize it before then.

The first week of their reunion, they had been happy. Well, as happy as they could be knowing that his brother was dead; that Stefan had sacrificed himself so that they could have a second chance to be together. But by the second week, the silence had started to settle in and her little habits and idiosyncrasies bugged the hell out of him. Worse, when he'd tried to fix her pancakes, she hadn't even attempt to touch them.

By the end of their first month together, he was sleeping on the sofa in the boarding house more often than not. He would hear her crying at night and he knew she was crying for Stefan; that she was missing him as much as he missed his brother. And at nights when he did manage to catch a wink of sleep, he dreamt about Bonnie - her perfect smile, her exuberance, her strength… He often woke up in cold sweats, his whole body aching for the mocha-skinned beauty.

He and Elena had finally admitted after four months that they couldn't be together anymore. She had been accepted into a pre-med program at Northwestern and wanted to go. He could have gone along for the ride, but he knew neither of them really wanted that. So they parted ways with a hug and tears (the tears were all for Stefan).

Damon had stayed in Mystic Falls, alone, for the next four months trying to convince himself that staying away from Bonnie was for the best, that she would always love Enzo and that he had no right to try and change her mind about that. But when that postcard from Amsterdam came, he couldn't stay away any longer. He needed his best friend; he needed his confidant; he needed … **_the woman he loved._**

 _Now he just had to find her and convince her that they belonged together._

xoxoxo

Bonnie was standing in front of a magnificent Rembrandt painting in the _Rijksmuseum,_ head cocked to the side, eyes focused on trying to take in every little color and detail when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her and then an all-too familiar voice was ringing in her ears.

 _"_ _Excuse me, Miss, but do I know you from somewhere?"  
_  
She froze for a long moment though her heart took to hammering like a kick drum in her chest. Finally, slowly, she turned and looked at him. "Damon? Ohmigod, what are you-?" She didn't finish her sentence. She was suddenly launching herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him impossibly tight. "Damon!" She shrieked in excitement.

Damon whirled her around and around until she was breathless and then set her down on her two little feet. Her legs felt wobbly and she was smiling so brightly that her cheeks ached.

"Would you believe that I was just in the neighborhood?" Damon said with a cheeky smile.

"No, I wouldn't believe it. Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you… duh," Damon said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah but -"

"Yeah but, what?"

"Where's Elena?" Bonnie asked, looking over his shoulder as if she expected to see the petite brunette appear at any moment.

Damon shrugged. "She's away at medical school, last I heard."

"What do you mean 'last you heard'?" Bonnie asked. She crossed her arms. "Damon, what's going on?"

"Come on. I'll explain everything. Let's get out of this stuffy place, go for some drinks; have some fun."

Bonnie looked at him curiously but allowed herself to be tugged out the doors of the museum and into the busy foot traffic on the streets. Neither she nor Damon spoke for a moment as he propelled her across the street towards a pub. They were about to head inside but she pulled him to a stop.

"What?" Damon asked.

"We can drink later," Bonnie said. "For now, I really want to know what's going on."

"Why does anything have to be going on?" Damon asked with a casual shrug.

"When you spoke of Elena, you said 'last you heard'. Did you two - did you two break up?"

Damon nodded. "We did," he said. He didn't exactly sound sad about it.

"Why is this the first I'm hearing about it? It's been eight months since I left Mystic Falls. We've talked a bunch of times … How long have you two been -"

"Finito?" He shrugged. "About four months."  
 _  
"What?"_ Bonnie screeched. "How - why - _what?"_ She was flabbergasted. She had thought Damon and Elena would go the distance. She had expected it and if she was honest with herself, that was part of the reason she had left Mystic Falls in the first place.

"Calm down, Bon," Damon said. "You're scaring the tourists."

"I just don't get it. You've loved Elena for long as I've known you. More than anything, you wanted her to awaken from her magical coma and she did and -" She sighed. "I just don't get it."

"Well, the first few weeks we were back together were okay…I guess. But it wasn't long before I realized that she was missing Stefan. I would just look in her eyes and I could see it. She tried to hide it but it was obvious."

"Damon, I'm sorry."

"We tried to hold on for as long as we could - for Stefan's sake. Because he died to give us a chance to be together. But it just became impossible. He was the glue that held us together and when he was gone… There was nothing left."

"I'm so sorry. Damon. I just don't get why you didn't tell me all of this before now."

"I didn't want to ruin your 'Eat, Pray, Love' journey, you know… But when I got your postcard saying you were in Amsterdam, I knew I had to come and see you. I couldn't stay away anymore. This was our place, our safe haven, for awhile, anyway." Damon's eyes were hooded and stormy as he looked at her and she shivered in spite of herself.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't say you're sorry again. This is … You have nothing to be sorry for. The truth was that it was inevitable. Elena is always going to miss Stefan, she's always going to love him…. And while she was missing him, I realized how much I was missing … _you."_

"Damon…" His gaze was so intense, that for a moment, she had to look away.

"Bonnie," he said. He placed two fingers underneath her chin and tilted her head upwards so their eyes met. "I know I have no right to tell you this. I know you still love Enzo but I realized something too - something I've been denying for a helluva long time."

Bonnie swallowed hard. "Wh-what?"

"That you're the one I want," Damon said. "That you're the one I've always wanted."

Bonnie felt her heart start to race even faster. She thought she might be having a heart attack. She slumped towards the ground but Damon caught her easily, expertly hauling her upright and pulling her close. Her whole body was on fire where their skin met. "Damon…"

"It's true, Bonnie. I spent four months with Elena but on every one of those days, I thought about you and how much I missed you. How much - Dammit! I need you, Bonnie."

"Damon, you don't mean that. You're rebounding. You're-"

"I am not. I know what I want and who I want and it sure as hell isn't Elena anymore."

"If that's true, why didn't you come find me sooner?"

"Because - because I knew you were in love with Enzo. You probably still are. And I didn't want to try to wreck that."

"So you were being noble?"

"Shocking huh?" Damon smiled softly. "Honestly, if I would have had my way I would have been with you a lot sooner. I was in denial. I was an incredible idiot. I admit it. I want you to believe me when I say this… I want you, Bonnie Bennett. You and only you."

Bonnie's eyes moistened against her will. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, I mean that. Look me in the eyes and see for yourself. I promise I won't compel you or do any sort of supernatural mumbo jumbo. Just look at me and you'll see the truth."

Bonnie stood back and looked at him long and hard. He said nothing, just stared at her in earnest, his lips set in a little smile. "It's true," she said. "You do want me."

"I don't just want you. Bon… I love you. And not in a friendship-y, brother and sister, sort of way."

"Damon… This is all too much …"

"I know. You and Enzo -"

"I will always love Enzo but I want -"

"What? Tell me what you want. Tell me how you feel. I need to hear it."

Bonnie nodded. "I feel …. The same way you do. I love you too, Damon."

Damon seemed to visibly sag with relief. "Thank god. I didn't want to be the only one feeling this way."

"You're not... but there is one problem."

"What's that?"

"Damon, we've never kissed before. What if we have no-"

"No chemistry? Ha! Come on, Bon. We've had that since the day we met. Even when we hated each other, we really didn't hate each other, did we?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I told myself that I did. I mean, I tried to light you on fire because I thought I hated you that much. But maybe it was just a deflection."

"I think we both know it was," Damon said with a cocky smile. "You wanted me and I wanted you … And you know what? We can easily find out if our chemistry extends to kisses right now."

"You want to kiss me?"

"Would I have come thousands of miles if I didn't?"

"Elena -"

"Elena and I are over. I told you that. She knows how I feel about you. I told her point blank and I think she already suspected any way. I think she was relieved even. Because while I was missing you, she was missing Stefan." His deep blue eyes clouded over for a moment. "Stefan … I miss that big lug, you know."

Bonnie moved to rest her hand on his arm, feeling the strong sinew flexing beneath her palm. "I know. I miss him too."

"Do you ever talk to Caroline?"

"Yes, I get a long letter or email from her every week. We also talk on the phone a lot. She's getting better, healing, bit by bit. I think someday she'll find the courage to move on."

Damon nodded. "Stefan would have wanted that. He wouldn't have wanted her to suffer; to mourn him for eternity. He was a good man."

"He was, but Damon, you're a good man too," Bonnie said. "In fact, the best man I've ever known."

Damon's eyes locked on hers, his gaze burning into her, searing her to the core, making her want things that she used to think were impossible; things she had dared not even fantasize about. Now here he was, in Amsterdam, in their special place, and it was _everything._

"I'm going to kiss you now, Bonnie," Damon said. He moved impossibly close to her, hooking his fingers deftly in the belt loops of her denim shorts. She could feel his cool, minty breath on her skin. "Tell me you want me to kiss you."

Bonnie just nodded. She couldn't speak. The breath had been stolen completely from her lungs. She raised her face up to look at him, to see him. To really see him. The man she wanted, the man she adored, the man she loved. He was so damned beautiful.

And then he was kissing her, hungrily, fiercely, his soft lips scraping against the seam of hers, demanding entrance. She opened her mouth to allow him to deepen the kiss. She moaned in spite of herself, falling into the kiss, falling, falling, falling…

Her knees were shaking, her whole body trembling as she pushed herself as close to him as she could get, her breasts sandwiched against his hard chest.

He spun her around, making her impossibly dizzy, pushing her against the rear doors of a parked van. That felt familiar. She remembered how he had saved her life that day in Amsterdam when a car was bearing down on her. He had hesitated a few seconds then until it was almost too late, but now there was no hesitancy in his embrace, no holding back in his kiss. He was giving her everything, opening himself up to her, making himself vulnerable for her even. She appreciated it. She loved it.

Finally, Damon pulled back when she was panting and could no longer think coherently. He cradled her face in his large hands. "So what do you think, Witchy? Do we have chemistry?"

Bonnie just nodded mutely, a smile playing on her lips. She couldn't find the words to say how much that kiss had aroused her; had brought her back to life again. And with Damon, she realized, no words were necessary. Looking into his eyes, she knew he already knew what she was thinking anyway. His vampire sixth sense at work, possibly, but it was more about how he knew her better than anyone ever had, or anyone ever would. He was her best friend. He was her everything actually. And looking at him in the bright sunlight, she knew that he felt exactly the same way.

 **THE END.**


End file.
